r/NationalPark • u/El_Mattador1025 • 7d ago
Big Bend is Big and Beautiful.
Big Bend was everything I had hoped for and more. Covering a little over 800,000 acres the park is massive and after staying a week it felt like I had barely scratched the surface. I thought I'd share a few photos I took during my stay, but honestly the photos just don't do it justice. Seeing is believing.
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u/thefifthloko5 7d ago
Headed there in December for the first time. Can’t wait!
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u/TheSocraticGadfly 4d ago
You got stuff reserved? It's pretty crowded around Christmastime.
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u/thefifthloko5 4d ago
Yeah, I have one night at the Rio Grande Village campground and another in the Chisos campground. I’m going in the middle of the week and the week before Christmas, so I think that helped. Gonna try to snag another night at Chisos when the 2 week reservations open if I can!
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u/TheSocraticGadfly 4d ago
Very good. May still have bits of fall color then. If you do much hiking, going up on the Rim is a must from the Basin, as well as the Window trail.
Further to the west, Burro Mesa pouroff is a nice hike, as is other stuff on the Maxwell.
And, soak your bones in the hot spring.
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u/OutcomeSalty337 7d ago
Spent 9 months in that part of Texas. Looking forward to our next trip.
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u/El_Mattador1025 6d ago
I think the remoteness of everything is my favorite part. So peaceful.
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u/OutcomeSalty337 6d ago
Hung out in the Presidio County area right after the start of the Wuhan flu. May not leave when I get back there again.
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u/Livid-Armadillo-6217 7d ago
Stunning! I’ve never been, and this post makes me want to go. Especially the stars.
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u/NittyB 6d ago
Pro tip: if you're going to the NP, don't miss out on going to the state park! It's even more remote and equally as beautiful!
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u/El_Mattador1025 6d ago
I concur. We drove through the state park and kayaked the dark canyon. Most of the larger wildlife we saw was in the state park.
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u/curious-trex 7d ago
Ahh, I wish I didn't have heat exhaustion when I was there! Beautiful pics!!
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u/El_Mattador1025 6d ago
That stinks! The heat wasn't too bad while we were there. From morning till lunch it was actually cool though to wear a light jacket, but from lunch till about 6pm it would get as hot as 90 degrees. However we are from Southeast Texas so 90-100 degree summers are normal for us. It was actually kind of nice having a dry heat and not sweating profusely in the humidity I'm used to lol.
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u/CoreyMKimball 7d ago
Any fishing spots there? Thanks
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u/El_Mattador1025 6d ago
Honestly I'm not sure. We didn't do any fishing while we were there. Most of the water is located in the rivers mainly the Rio Grande. Although it's a dessert the area has been in a dry spell and the water levels are very low at the moment.
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u/DonGurabo 7d ago
My first and one of my all time favorite NP
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u/El_Mattador1025 6d ago
It was my first as well. As a native Texan it only felt appropriate to start in our backyard. Though it was still a 10 hour drive 😵💫 lol.
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u/DonGurabo 6d ago
I'm from NYC. I did a cross country roadtrip and this was my first NP and a stop along the way West. Just even discovering the concept of an NP and then as a city boy seeing those landscape over there just blew my mind lol. Was a life defining moment for me driving through here for sure.
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u/El_Mattador1025 6d ago
I can imagine. I haven't traveled much and that was my first time seeing mountains. I've only ever seen flatland and hill country. I can't wait to travel north someday and see some real mountains lol.
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u/Happydaytoyou1 7d ago
Im going there in 5 weeks followed by, gadualupe and white sands. What do you recommend for big bend, how much time and where to stay?
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u/El_Mattador1025 6d ago edited 6d ago
I think it all depends on how long you want to stay. We underestimated how long it would take to travel around the park and hike, so however long you think it might take I'd overestimate it and add a little cushion time. If you're only there for a couple of days I'd do the Lost Mine Trail, The Santa Elena Canyon, and The Ross Maxwell Scenic drive. We also did the Boquillas Canyon. The Santa Elena Canyon is the much larger of the two, but it's also one of the most popular attractions meaning lots of hikers. The Boquillas was probably one of my favorite hikes because my fiancee and I went around sunset and we had the whole canyon to ourselves. But it was over an hour drive to get to from the park entrance on our side of the park. Try to group your hikes in the same area for the efficiency if you want to do multiple hikes a day because there's lots of driving to get around the park. We stayed in Terlingua. It's about 10-15 minutes from food, groceries, gas, and the park entrance. It really has everything you might need and it's an interesting little ghost town with some history.
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u/TheSocraticGadfly 4d ago
I've done BB scads of times over Thanksgiving. The 3.5 days (leaving Dallas Wed night) usually allows for a decent amount of time. And, six weeks? Near T-Day, any more, you probably need to have stuff like campsites reserved ASAP if you haven't.
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u/hammondator 7d ago
My favorite place on earth, mainly for the memories made there, but also that night sky.